Hearing Loss

Ten Commandments

the Hearing Impaired Wish You Knew

II. Thou shalt not speak with your back toward the listener or while the listener's back is toward you.

III. Thou shalt not speak as you walk away.

IV. Thou shalt not turn your face away from the listener while continuing to talk.

V. Thou shalt not speak while background noise (water running, radio or TV playing, people talking, etc.) is as loud or louder than your voice.

VI. Thou shalt not start to speak before getting the listener's attention or while the listener is reading, engrossed in a TV program, or otherwise preoccupied.

VII. Thou shalt not speak while your face is hidden in shadow.

VIII. Thou shalt not obstruct the view of your mouth while speaking.

IX. Thou shalt not speak rapidly or by shouting.

X. Thou shalt be patient, supportive, and loving when the listener appears to have difficulty comprehending what has been said.

How to Read a Hearing Test

People begin to benefit from hearing aids when their thresholds exceed 30dB, especially at 2kHz. I found this video explanation of how to interpret a hearing test by Carrie Brollier at Saint Jospeh's University in Philadelphia.

The Unfair Hearing Test

If you don't have a hearing loss, take this test to see what it's like. Words aren't softer as much as they're unclear.

The McGurk Effect

You use more than your ears to understand speech. The Washington Post did a great video on something called the McGurk Effect. It's how what you see affects what you hear.

Getting Used to a Hearing Aid

It takes time to get used to hearing things you haven't heard in a long time. At first they're distracting, if not annoying. With time, though, your brain rewires and learns to dismiss them the way people with normal hearing do. It's like when you get new glasses and the frames are distracting. Hearing adaptation just takes a little longer. Scroll over the bottom of the article to turn to the next page.